Rotten Watermelon
by KuroNite
Summary: First Ff! Set during the course of the series, Eiji feels something strange about Fuji, and he seems more tense than usual. Tezuka dreams of something, but he can't quite put his finger to it. Dream friendship, no intention of bxb. reviews appreciated.
1. Rotten Watermelon

_Rotten Watermelon  


* * *

_

Seishun Gakuen 

The day was normal, or as normal as the Seishun boys tennis club can be. Though there was an addition of a super rookie to the regulars of eight, it was other wise the same.

"Fuuuji!!" a certain redhead yelled. "Fujiko! Guess what guess what!"

"Chicken butt?" one passing by Ryoma said.

"Unyaa~ Ochibi! Shut up! Fujiiii Ochibis being mean again."

"Saa, it happens. Eiji, whats up?"

"Well you see- " Unfortunately, the said statement was cut off.

"What are you all doing? 20 laps all of you!" Tezuka shouted.

"Ehh?"

"Kikumaru! Add another 10!"

Thus, the morning practice began for the tennis players.

--

After some harsh practice, the regulars were getting ready for school in the clubroom, which was filled with groans, moans, complaints, and mada mada danes. However, amazingly Eiji didn't utter a single word.

"Whats wrong Eiji-senpai? You're not like your usual self." Momo asked worriedly.

Silence.

"Eiji-senpai?" By now, the remaining regulars stopped their conversation and stared at the two of them.

"Eiji?" "Senpai?" "Eiji?" "Eiji, are you alright? Were you hit in the head? We should-"

"Oishi." A stern voice stopped the vice captains rant. But even Tezukas eyes were evident with worry towards the redhead. Then, one brunette placed his hand on Eijis shoulder.

"Eiji."

Flinching, Eiji suddenly spun around to see eight pairs of curious eyes staring back at him. "Fuji? Wait, why is everyone staring at me?"

"One, you haven't responded even when Momo yelled at you. Two, you blanked out. Three, you were swaying a little." Ryoma said indifferently.

"Hey! I didn't yell!"

"Fsshhhh you're yelling right now."

"Looking for a fight?"

Leaving Oishi and Kawamura to stop the two rivals, Fuji, Tezuka, Ryoma, and Inui questioned Eiji.

"Are you alright?" Fuji asked, his hand still on his shoulder.

"Eh? I'm fine. oh! Fuji I wa- "Again, Eiji was cut off, but by the school bell.

Oh craps filled the room this time as everyone rushed off to their respective classes. While running towards the third-year wing, Eiji tried again. "Ne, Fuji, you might find me weird saying this but-"

"Fuji! Kikumaru! You're late to class!" Shinohara-sensei called out from the classroom. "Hurry up, or I'm giving out detention!" With that, they both sped up and were in their seats in record time.

---

During class, Eiji tried passing notes to him, despite the fact that they were sitting next to each other. However, the teacher caught Eiji just as he was sliding it over.

"Kikumaru! What is this nonsense? First you're late to class, and now you're passing notes? Meet me after-"

"Sensei, the note wasn't from Eiji." Fuji intervened. "Here, you can see it yourself." He said, casually taking out one of the many fan letters he received daily, whilst hiding Eiji's note under his book. Shinohara-sensei opened it and immediately blushed, and handed it back to him. Though there was no name, it was crystal clear that it was written by a girl; judging by the big characters written in pink pen on a flowery note.

As the class went on, Fuji tried looking at the note secretly without being noticed. Just as he was about to open the second to last fold, the bell interrupted him. Not that he really cared, he went on opening the last fold but this time, Sakurada, a classmate, stopped him. Quickly hiding the note, he put on his smile and faced the boy.

--

Eiji, nonetheless, was frustrated. He had tried to get Fuji's attention since morning and nothing worked, he had seen Sakurada interrupt him. He had also seen someone running into Fuji, making him drop his stuff, as well as the note. The said note being thrown away from the same guy. Letting out an irritated sigh, he leaned against a tree with his half-eaten bento on his lap.

"Eiji, whats up? You seem annoyed." Fuji said, startling the said redhead.

"Fuji, I-I'm not even going to bother. Someones coming." And said person, Oishi, did come into view.

"Hi guys, you don't mind me if I join you do you?" Oishi spoke. Neither wanting to be rude, they nodded their heads, though wanting more than anything for Oishi to leave.

It was basically a casual conversation about the upcoming match, nothing serious. But to Eiji, he felt somewhat uncomfortable talking about his favorite sport for some reason, and Fuji seemed more tensed than usual.

--

During science, as everyone in their classroom was getting ready with their lab partners, Okamoto-sensei (in Japan, the teachers move to classes) suddenly announced that she was going to switch people up a bit. Thus, Eiji's plan of telling Fuji over the lab failed. Eiji's talk to Fuji would have to wait until afternoon practice. Eiji's partner was a quiet girl with glasses named Iwaizumi Yuzuna, whereas Fuji's partner was the schools ace soccer player, Hitomi Yuuto. Their labs weren't that bad, with an exception of Eiji messing up a few times and Yuzuna helping him, and Yuuto mostly talking about soccer while Fuji did most of the work.

Towards the end of class, Yuzuna asked, "Kikumaru-kun, do you mind if I ask something? Its more of saying but-"

"Eh? I don't mind, ask away!" Eiji felt kind of stressed, and if this was another confession, he wasn't sure how to deal with it.

"Well, its not a confession, er, sort of is-" Sigh. _I knew it._ "-but not in the romantic sense." _Wow, thats a first_. "Do you sense anything in Fuji-kun? I know its really weird, but theres something different about him these days-" At the moment, Eiji was at a loss of words. Yuzuna noticed his reaction and stopped.

"Iwai- can I call you Yuzuna-chan? Iwaizumi sounds too long." Without waiting for a reply, Eiji kept going. "I'm glad, I thought I was the only one who thought that. So it wasn't just me. Yuzuna-chan, out of curiosity, what exactly do you sense? I mean, I don't really know myself but I feel...um... ...dunno. Can't say it."

"Kikumaru-kun, I-"

"Call me Eiji. Everyone else does."

"Eiji-kun, then. Well-"

"Alright, class! Bells gonna ring soon, hurry and start cleaning up! Whoever finishes first gets candy!" Okamoto-sensei yelled. _As if giving out candy would motivate soon-to-be Highschoolers, _Yuzuna thought. She thought wrong.

"Yuzuna- Yuzu-chan hurry up! We have to get the candy!" Eiji spoke a little louder than usual. But if you look down, his hands were going at an inhuman speed to clean the lab equipments. Nonetheless, Yuzuna also cleaned up, making sure that the beakers didn't break and the pipettes were clean.

This was one of the few times she ever associated with Kikumaru Eiji, and each time, she seemed to forget his personality along with her experience from before.

--

A/N yay first chapter done! I'm really not sure how this is going to turn out, since I tend to ramble a lot in real life...Maybe Eiji was a bit OOC, but please don't think too deep about it. Also, this is NOT an EijixOC pairing and also not a dream pair pairing. But if yaoi fans are reading this, use your imagination. Its meant to be a dream friendship, though. Reviews would be nice, but if there aren't any, well, I will still intend to finish this...

If noone likes it, then, well, I'll take it off after I'm done :/

There's not much plot yet, 'cause this is still the intro. I was going to label this as a certain genre, which would describe this story well, almost too well, so this is going to be a friendship story...you all probably figured it out by now from reading above though. .

It's not going to be a very long story, I don't think, so the story may go pretty quickly.

P.S. If you want to correct me on things, feel free to PM me or leave a review, I'd appreciate it. English is my second language and I'm not that great with it. Thanks!

~SND~

P.P.S. first person to figure out the meaning of the title gets...I havent decided yet. I will once someone does.


	2. Dream

Rotten watermelon

_Dreams._

_

* * *

  
_

As the last point was determined during the Kanto finals, Seigaku gathered up and cheered. The only one who seemed indifferent was Fuji, who just stood there and smiled.

"Fuji! You should cheer up! We won! We won against Rikkaidai! Fuji!!" Eiji yelled.

"Eh? Oh, yeah."

"Fuji? You alright?" he asked, now more worried about his friend.

"No, the question is, are you alright? You were hit by Yagyuu right?"

"Nya! Don't change the subject!"

"And you laughing seems more strained than usual. As your best friend, I can tell these things, Eiji."

".. . and I'm gonna say that right back at you. " Fuji froze. "Don't think I haven't noticed you staring out off more than usual. You're not yourself."  
The pair stared at each other for sometime until-

"Eiji! Fuji! Great job on your game today! Come on, we have to line up for the awards ceremony!" Oishi yelled. Both minds crossed the thought: _him again_. Putting on their best smiles, they followed the vice captain.

-- -- -- -- -- --

On the other side of the world (yes, I do realize it should be Kyushu, but it seems like people on ff seem more familiar with him going to Germany), Tezuka was having trouble going to sleep. The night was still somewhat young, but Tezuka was restless.

_-beep-_

a text message.

_Tezuka, we won against Rikkaidai. __全国で待ってるよ__. (we'll wait for you at nationals)_

_That must be why_, Tezuka thought. He scrolled down, and noticed that the sender was Fuji, not Oishi like he expected. However a couple seconds later, his phone beeped again.

_We won the finals Tezuka! Hurry up and get back here, I'd like to see you try and beat Ochibi now! :D he's gotten better..._

_Weird_. He had reopened his phone thinking it was Oishi but it was Eiji. It was strange, Eiji would never call him, less text him unless it was extremely important. No, this was important, but Tezuka felt that it wasn't important enough for him text him. No, it was the vice-captain's job to send the message. So why did these two text him? While pondering on that question, he fell asleep into a deep slumber.

**dream**

_This..is.. a park... _Tezuka looked around himself. He was back to being a five-year-old sitting on a swing. Everything felt nostalgic: the wind, the sky, the trees.....

Tezuka began swinging on the swing, suddenly remembering this sensation. The breeze, the scent of nature flying past him, as he swung higher and higher...and found himself smiling. When was the last time he smiled? When was the last time he _truly_ smiled? It felt so long ago, the corners of his mouth tilting upwards, he felt like he should laugh. Before he could do so, a small shadow came upon him. Slowing down, he came face-to-face with a child around the same age as him.

_Who are you?_ He asked the boy. The boy was standing with the sun behind him, making it harder for Tezuka to see his face clearly. The boy only smiled back, then turned away.

_Wait! What is your name?_ he yelled, hoping to catch his attention. The said boy turned around again, but this time bowed his head.

_Whats yours? _The boy asked. Hesitantly, Tezuka replied.

_Tezuka Kunimitsu. What is yours?_ As the boy opened his mouth to speak, he disappeared. With a blinding while light, Tezuka himself vanished.

**

Waking with a start, Tezuka quickly grabbed his glasses on instinct. But still slightly in a daze, the glasses fell on the floor with a clatter. And suddenly, Tezuka felt pale. This has never happened before. No matter how sleepy or tired he was, he had never missed his glasses, much less ever drop them in his life. And that dream... He could not recall clearly, but he remembered a part of his childhood.

It was well ten in the morning, and he realized he missed a chance for his morning jog. Shaking his head in shame, he stood to get dressed.

--

Couple minutes later, he was in his Mizuno jersey wear ready to go. Currently, he was now on rehab and was allowed to do anything he wanted for a whole week. As he reached for the doorknob, his phone beeped.

_Tezuka! How are you doing? I hope you aren't straining yourself too much. Seigaku is doing great! We defeated the King Rikkaidai and we're all working really hard to hopefully do just as well in Nationals. With you, of course. So don't overwork yourself! Its best if you're at your top condition when you come back! Don't delay the trip any longer than you need to! Oh yes, I can't believe I forgot to mention this. Our doubles team unfortunately lost, but we came back with our singles – Inui, Fuji, and Echizen. Its amazing how much they've grown! You just wait and come back – I can guarantee you that you will be surprised. Again, don;t overwork yourself! We'll see you soon!_

_As expected of Oishi. Waiting until I'm up over here._ But this was indeed strange. He couldn't point out exactly what, but something was wrong.

...Eiji. Eiji's not mentioned. The vice-captain usually mentions his other half of the golden pair no matter what. Whether it be him tripping and scraping his knee or dripping ice cream and licking it off his hand which isn't sanitary and a lot of germs could get inside of him and if a bad one goes in he might die and, Eiji was always mentioned, probably more than any other members. Of course, he usually mentions mostly everyone, but no matter what Eiji was always there. And here, he's only mentioned 'as our doubles team', and not even his name is typed. Not only that, Eiji had _text-ed_ him last night. Around the same time as Fuji.

...Maybe he is thinking too much. Taking a deep breath, Tezuka took his phone and left the room for a few-warm ups before lunch.

------ ----

a/n: So heres the second chapter. I think some of you, I know there are some readers there, can guess how this is going, but I digress. Im sorry if some of the characters are a bit OC, but hopefully itll be better.

I do realize that you might think this story is going really fast. I'm not a very good writer, and I can't really write the way good authors write? I'm pretty bad at English.. reviews would be nice, and criticisms are accepted. Flames I wouldn't mind so much either.

This is just sorta like a plot-start.. .


	3. Phone Call

**Rotten Watermelon**

_Phone call_.

--

* * *

Eiji was tired. Tired was an understatement. He was ready to collapse and faint anytime soon. Nothing registered in his mind. Sure, he and his team had just defeated one of the strongest teams of all Japan, but Eiji was sure that wasn't the case. If it was, it would be just being physically tired, but he was mentally and probably psychologically tired.

In the far distance, he could hear some cheery Chocolates' song. _Maybe I've gone insane_. Abruptly, he woke up from his little 'spell' and threw himself towards the bed where the phone was being charged. Sure enough, Fuji had called him.

"Hello? Fuji? What's up?" he said as he picked up. However, he got nothing in response. Eiji checked the phone to make sure Fuji didn't suddenly hang up on him, but the phone displayed 'Fuji Shuusuke 0:00:09' and counting.  
"Hel-lo? Fuuujiiii?" he tried again. Silence. "Fine, then." Eiji was about to hang up, but suddenly had a different idea.

"_Fuji._ By the one and only Kikumaru Eiji-sama. _Once upon a time, an old lady and an old man lived together in a small house by the mountains. It was a great place for game and there was a river near by which made it a wonderful place to live. The old man, like any other day, went to the mountains to gather some wood and the old lady went to the river to wash some clothes. While they were both minding their own business, a bigger-than-normal fruit came flowing down from the river. The old lady noticed this and caught the little-bit-big fruit. Finding it interesting, she took it home and showed it to the old man. 'It's an apple.' He said. 'It's very delicious. Let's eat it after dinner.' The old lady took this in consideration and started making dinner. After the couple finished their supper of fish and rice, the old lady took out a knife to cut the apple. She didn't know what an apple was, but since it was a fruit, she started cutting around the apple to peel the skin off. She feared that she might cut the seeds in half if she started chopping it down, especially if this was good, since she wanted to plant it in her yard if it was. When she was finished, the apple tipped over. Then rolled. And rolled. And rolled. And collided with the wall. The old man and the old lady stared at it for a while. Then the old lady asked, 'Is this what an apple is supposed to do?' to which the old man replied, 'I've only heard of one type of an apple that does this. But it's a legend and its not supposed to exist.' 'So what is this?' the old lady asked again. 'Just wait and see.' The old man said. A few moments later, the apple broke apart, a little by little, and soon, a little boy appeared in front of them. The old lady was surprised and the old man was amused. The little boy was still a cute little baby. The old lady stood up and went to the baby, who nuzzled into her chest as she picked him up. She looked up at the old man, who was shaken. 'The legend… its true.' 'What legend?' '..You'll see my dear, you'll see..'_

_  
The old lady didn't mind, since she was glad to have a child in her hands. She had a daughter a long, long time ago but she left the house a long, long time ago. She was such a beautiful child; flowing brown, long, wavy hair, a melodic voice, and a model-like stature...Back to the topic. The baby in her arms already had some hair on his almost bald - head, and she could tell that he had brown hair. But, as time flies, or to make the story shorter, the boy grew over a few years. When he was five, he already knew how to read, walk, talk, write, and even gardening. The old lady was so happy she wanted him to stay with her forever. She voiced her thoughts to the old man and the old man nodded. 'You won't have to worry, he will...' The old lady was confused about this cryptic answer, but nevertheless was happy that the old man agreed. The next day, the old lady told her loving thoughts towards the boy. The boy seemed joyous for one second, but went calm in another. Then the boy said, 'Don't worry, I will be with you forever,' while pointing at her heart. 'No that's not what I meant,' the old lady laughed. 'You make me happy just by physically being here with me.' 'I know, I will.' Then the boy walked outside. The old lady stood up to follow him but the old man stopped her. 'Hold on...just sit tight.' The old lady did as she was told and sat down. Soon, a scent of apple flowed through the house. The old man let go of her and the old lady walked outside. As soon as she did, she collapsed in amazement. Right next to her garden, there was one big apple tree growing ever so gracefully. The old lady was ready to call out for the boy but stopped. She called the old man instead to look at the tree. The old man then asked, 'Did I ever tell you the name of the apple?' to which the old lady replied 'No'. 'It's called the Fuji apple.' He said. Suddenly a childish laughter, just like the boy's laughter, was heard in the wind. The old lady_-"

"How did you know?" a voice spoke over the phone.

"Fuji? Is that you? That took you soo long I was making a sto-" and Eiji was cut off. Looking back the phone again, he saw a blinking 'Fuji Shuusuke 00:38:56' on the screen, indicating that the conversation was over. Raising an eyebrow and pouting, he reluctantly let go of his phone and went to brush his teeth. Except he never got as far as reaching his bedroom door. He himself actually collapsed right after leaving the bed in sudden exhaustion.

-- -- -- -- --

a/n: yay 3rd chapter! And Thank you to **Frog-kun** - my first reviewer! This chapter was more of a ramble, but it gets more important later on. If I made any mistakes, feel free to review or pm about it – either is fine.

First person to tell me where I parodied off this story gets ice-cream points!


	4. To say the least

**Rotten Watermelon**

_To say the least_

--

* * *

The next day at school, the first thing Eiji did was confront Fuji about that phone call. He could not recall everything he said, other than something about an old lady and an apple.

"Eh, I didn't call you yesterday." Fuji said. "And I didn't have anyone over at my house – I was alone since Yuuta's still at St. Rudolph's. You know that Yumikos in college right now, right?"

"But you called me! And you didn't answer so I started making up a story.. I think.. but I think I blanked out halfway through it. Then this kid, I think it was a kid, asked me something I forget then hung up."

"That's strange. I'm sure I was alone that time..." Though Fuji was good at masking his emotions, he couldn't help but feel nervous. To make it worse, Eiji knew him well enough to see right past façade. "What did you say, then?" Fuji tried.

"Er.. I was making up a story.. "

"What story?"

"Um.. an apple? And and...an old lady I think. And...a little b-"

"Hey guys! It's such a beautiful day out isn't it?" Oishi said, while walking in them again, for the third time. Getting no response from either of them, Oishi looked at Eiji, then Fuji confusedly. "What's wrong?

"...Nothing." They replied in unison. "I'll see you later, Eiji." Fuji said as he walked away, completely ignoring Oishi on the way. However, as he was a good distance away, he could not help but release a sigh in relief. _There couldn't have been a better timing than that_. Eiji, on the other hand, was back to square one – frustrated and unable to express his words.

"Eiji? What happened? Why was Fuji so cold today?" _Silence._ "Oh no! Eiji! Are you okay? Respond to me Eiji!"

"Oishi." Eiji spoke carefully, trying to keep his voice under control.

"Yes?"

"Just...leave me alone." With that said, he turned and walked away, leaving Oishi to bite the dust. (Literally, not figuratively)

--

Coach Ryuuzaki, despite her age, was not wise enough to realize the tension between the three tennis players on the team. So when she paired the Golden Pair against the Fuji-Kawamura pair, she was oblivious to the fact that she was about to start more chaos than there already were without Tezuka.

Oishi was depressed that Eiji had said such a thing to him and was too busy drowning himself in remorse to concentrate on the game play. Eiji was too frustrated to work with Oishi and was pretty uncooperative. Fuji was too much in thought to think of tennis at the moment and Kawamura, who was in the midst of all them, could not even be in his burning mode due to the heavy tension and awkwardness. The only thing was heard from the game was the tennis ball bouncing back and forth; Oishi didn't even try using his moon volley. What usually would be a pretty heated up game sounded more like a silent auction with no words said. It was so quiet that even the members practicing around them stopped and watched them play without a sound. (Except for Horio, but no one cares about him right now)

The game stopped with a 5-3 in favor of the Fuji-Kawamura pair.

"What do you guys think you're doing? How many times have I told you to not bring in personal emotional feelings to the game? It affects it greatly! Golden pair, look at your score! Fuji! Your spins were horrible! Kawamura! Don't let these little things bother you! Oishi, Kikumaru, Fuji, I want everything solved out before afternoon practice!" Ryuuzaki barked at them.

Even after the disbandment of morning practice, it didn't stop the curious classmates to question the three.

"Oishi, why are you so down?" Fukuda asked. Oishi did not reply, and most likely to the fact that his question probably did not even reach his ears. Eiji merely glanced at him but looked away suddenly feeling extremely guilty. _No, its his fault. All his fault!_ He thought to himself stubbornly.

This time quickly, Eiji and Fuji changed their uniforms and headed off to class. However, they had completely underestimated the power of gossip. As soon as the two entered the classroom, they were bombarded by questions, if not for their popularity.

"Eiji-kun! What's going on between you and Oishi-kun?"

"Are you two breaking up?" A horrified expression passed through Eiji's face. _We were never together_! Of course, fangirls would never accept that, though.

"Fuji-kun, what's bothering you? You can tell me everything!" another fangirl squealed. _You're bothering me more than anyone at this moment_. Fuji thought.

Eventually, the two were able to sit down thanks to Shinohara-sensei, who shooed the girls away in order to start class.

-- -- -- -- --

a/n: Sorry its been a couple days… Taking two AP classes, two foreign languages, some honors class, school six days a week take up some time.

I've looked back and noticed I made a very stupid mistake. Tezuka is with the team in Chapter 1 and is suddenly in Germany in Chapter 2. It was a fatal mistake on my part –** Tezuka moved to Germany between those chapters and a few time skips occur**. There are a lot of other things I have to explain, and most will be in later chapters. If I missed any by the end of the story, PM or review about it and I'll go change it back or I'll just tell you then.

The phone call before (yes, that drabble) will probably or hopefully make more sense to you as the story continues.

I'm quite glad seeing that a lot of people read this, but reviews, or critics, too, will help a lot. If you agree with me and flame, no harm done : /

I also realized that my writing style is pretty boring. It makes me feel like I'm reading a crappy English essay. . Again, any spelling/grammar mistakes - please point out.

A special thank you to those who put this on their favorites/alert list!


	5. The boy and the other boy

**Rotten Watermelon**

_The boy and the other boy._

* * *

As the class drew on in one certain Seishun Gakuen, one Tezuka Kunimitsu back in Germany was struggling to sleep peacefully. He had no clue why, but the dream earlier had bothered him enough to distract him during tennis._ Tennis._ Tennis, the one thing in his life that literally controls him, drives him to the limit – even to the point of sacrificing his arm – and… and this _dream_. A dream, a consciousness in unconsciousness, a few images seen only at night, and this dream had stopped him from playing.

_It's only a dream, Kunimitsu. Just relax and calm down._ He thought to himself for the umpteenth time in the course of two hours. But the more he tried to forget, the visions from the dream became clearer. And soon, he saw the same images playing right in front of him…

_The park, he recognized, was Morigaoka-kouen. It was a park near his former house before he moved to Tokyo after being accepted to Seigaku. He remembered that he used to come here a lot: whether it be with his friends or alone. He came here when he was depressed, he came here when his mother yelled at him, and crying in the park had soothed him down. He also recalled escaping from his home at night just to look at the stars._

Tezuka smiled to himself as he started walking towards the play area. With every step taken, he became a year younger until he reached the swings in front of him in the form of a five year-old. His hands were little, glasses no longer perched on his nose, but he was still Tezuka. The façade that he worked hard on perfecting for the last ten years of his life was easily broken. Reaching out for the swings, he heard a voice stop him. Turning around, he found himself in the same situation as last time: an indistinguishable boy standing near him by the swings. Tezuka quickly put on his stern face and glared at the boy.

"You shouldn't have such a serious face, Tezuka-kun." The boy spoke.

"Then maybe you should tell me your name." Tezuka replied.

"Maybe, but maybe later." The boy laughed, but the five-year-old Tezuka was nonetheless a five year old.

"Tell me now!" he shouted. Easily frustrated, he was ready to grab the boy before he escaped. The boy, in response, opened his eyes wide and stared back at him. Realizing what he had done, Tezuka bowed his head and apologized. "I'm sorry I yelled at you."

The boy accepted the apology and Tezuka thought about how upset his mother would have been if she were there.

"Well, I'll see you around." With a wave, the boy turned around and walked off.

"Wait! You never told me your name!" Tezuka called, running after him. The boy continued and said, "I'm going to move here soon. I'm glad I got to know you." 

--- -- --

Snapping his eyes open, Tezuka looked and noticed that he had yet again missed his chance for a morning jog. Groaning at his headache that he had gained during his sleep, Tezuka looked around for his phone. _One new message,_ the screen displayed.  
Pushing a few buttons, he read the training menu that Inui sent him along with his recipe of vegetable juice. _Nothing special_, he thought, and continued with his day. But Tezuka failed to notice the P.S. inscribed after the recipe...

** ** ** ** 88

The Golden pair was still 'broken' and everyone just assumed that they'll get back together anyway in a matter of time. However, by the fourth day after the incident, things became a little more suspicious. Eiji had stopped talking to Fuji and Fuji spent more time staring off. Oishi was still sad but made no move to apologize to Eiji.

Even in the locker room, the tension was too strong for any of the regulars to bear. Echizen himself knew when to keep his mouth shut for once. Suddenly, one brave soul came in the form of one Momoshiro Takeshi.

"Eiji-senpai, you wanna grab a bite later?" He asked, attempting (and pretty much failing) to put on his carefree friendly face.

Eiji understood Momo immediately and replied with an equally nervous face, "Yeah, sure. Uhh..."

"Senpai, you're paying." Echizen walked by, catching onto Momo's antics. "Oi! Echizen! That's not fair...well...Eiji-senpai will be paying anyway..."

"Wahh! You can't do that Momo! Fu-" Carried away by the everyday situation, Eiji stopped himself before he finished the sentence.  
_  
Damn! Almost! _Were the thoughts that ran through their kouhai's heads. While Momo tried to think of a way out the place he had set, Echizen beat him to it.

"Fu? Eiji-senpai? What's Fu?" he said, putting on his innocent face.

"Eh..Fu...uh...Fu...Fu...Furoku ha morauyo! (I get the toys! [from the kids meal])"

"Senpai? I don't get kids meal...?"

"Uh...well, I'll get you one then!"

"Its not enough...I eat more than Momo-senpai."

"What?! You brat, _I_ eat more than you." Momo intervened.

"Che, Mada mada dane. Ready Eiji-senpai?"

"Ochibi, I can't pay for both of you...Maybe invite me next time nya?" With that, Eiji put on his best reluctant look and started to leave the room.

"Senpai, they have a really big sale going on today...Are you sure?" That stalled Eiji's attempt on leaving. "It's a Wednesday...meaning all burgers are under 200yen, remember?"

"Eh..."

"On second thought," Momo continued for Echizen, "Fuji senpai, why don't you come with us?" Unfortunately for Momo, the room temperature dropped to -273.5 instead of the tension being raised. A few awkward moments later, Fuji sighed, "Yuuta's coming home today. Sorry, maybe next time."

"Fuji senpai, are you running away?" Fuji stopped. "Besides, I heard St. Rudolph is away on a training camp." _Shoot, so Echizen knew? Well then..._

"Fine, I admit I lied. It's just Yumiko-neesan's home and she's cooking dinner."

"Dinner time isn't for another three hours senpai."

"Well-" "And as a senpai you should pay for our meals, right Momo-senpai?" To which Momo nodded confidently. "Then its decided. Lets go." With that, Momo and Echizen half-dragged Fuji and Eiji out the door.

"This may be a good chance for some data." Inui said, seeing Echizen's intent. "Oishi, why don't we go along?"

"Eh!? But we can't just-" "Yes we can, now lets go before we miss out on this." The data player smirked and also walked out with a worrisome vice-captain. The remaining players heaved a big sigh as the door closed with a heavy thud.

- - - - - - - -  
a/n: Sorry for the once again late update :/ Hopefully its better then the other chapters.

To Mizunoshine: Yes, I understand your feelings, I felt the same:/ I happen to dislike Oishi more than the other players, but his part is actually sorta kinda crucial to the plot, and I intended to make him act the way he is.


	6. Somethings are better left unsaid

**Rotten Watermelon**

_Some things are better left unsaid

* * *

_

It was four by the time they arrived at the usual burger place. Eiji still refused to look at Fuji while Fuji tried his best to ignore his friend walking next to him. Momo looked back and whispered to Ryoma, "Was it really wise to bring those two at once?"

To which Ryoma replied, "You invited them, senpai."

"Yeah, well-" "We're here."

Stopping abruptly, Momo ran into Ryoma, and Eiji, who wasn't paying attention ran into Momo, and Fuji tripped instead of running into Eiji.

"Ow!"

"Nyaa!"

"Argh!"

"Wh-" the four collided on the ground, with Ryoma as their cushion. The bystanders looked at them in amusement, and the cashier chuckled after recognizing their usual customers. Fuji was the first one to get up, followed by Eiji, brushing dust off his uniform. Momo still had his eyes close from the impact until he realized he was crushing Ryoma. Quickly getting up, he held a hand to Ryoma to help him, only to get his hand slapped away.

"I can get up myself, senpai." Gathering himself, Ryoma started walking towards the doors.

"You could've at least _thanked_ me, y'know!"

"_You're_ the one who pushed me down, why should I thank _you_?"

"No respect, man. Go get some for your senpai."

"Why should I?"

As the two entered through the doors, Eiji and Fuji couldn't help but laugh at their kouhai's bickering. Hearing their laughter, Ryoma and Momo glanced at each other with a little 'guts' pose.

"What would you like to order today? The usual?" the cashier asked.

"Yep." "Do you even need to ask?" "Echizen! At least respect the girl, man!" "It's okay, she knows I eat more than you." "You-! Sorry 'bout this kid"

The cashier girl just giggled and placed their order. "And for the two of you?" Ryoma and Momo looked back only to see Eiji muffling his laughter in his sleeve and Fuji's smile a bit wider than usual. Grinning, Momo poked Eiji in the stomach and Ryoma did the same to Fuji – which resulted in both of them doubling over and Eiji on the ground slapping the floor.

"You- Momo! Ahahaha! You guys are so- bwahaha- funny!" Eiji finally spat out. Fuji was able to regain himself a bit quicker and placed his order as if nothing happened. The girl was more amused at Fuji's calmness than Eiji's reaction, but once more asked for Eiji's order.

"C'mon senpai, we don't got all day," Ryoma said as he helped Eiji up. Eiji, still a bit hyper, finally placed his order and the quad found a table to sit.

"hmm...ii data" Inui said as he scribbled in his notebook. Oishi, who was still wary of following, couldn't help but ask.

"What data? They just fell and laughed and ordered food!"

"Oishi," Inui said snapping his book shut, "We're done, it doesn't seem like there's anything to worry about."

"What?"

"Let's go home." Inui got up from his corner where he observed the quad and helped Oishi up and started walking again.

"Wait, Inui! I don't get it, tell me!" Hurriedly, Oishi ran to catch up with Inui's long strides.

"First, Oishi. I'm sure you have realized the tension between Fuji and Eiji. Or as Eiji's partner, there was a 87.6% chance that you did."

"Yeah, but-"

"Second, I know something happened between you and Eiji which decreased your partnership by 34%. "

"Well that was-"

"You don't have to tell me, I have a pretty good idea. From my observation, well, I'll let you answer. From the past week, how many times did you try to talk to Eiji?"

"Um.. I'm not sure but what does that-"

"Do you remember what Eiji was doing when you did?"

"Eiji was just being himse- oh, um, he was talking to Fuji the first time..."

"The second time?"

"He was also talking to Fuji"

"And the third, he was also talking to Fuji, correct?"

"Oh." Oishi stopped walking when it finally dawned on him that it was actually _his_ fault for the 'break-up' of the Golden Pair as well as Fuji and Eiji's friendship. "Crap! Inui, sorry, I have to go apologize!" Oishi suddenly ran off towards the burger place again until Inui stopped him from going any further.

"Oishi, calm down."

"How can I stay calm? I-"

"Oishi, stop. Wait until tomorrow. Don't call him tonight either. Now is not right."

"But sooner the-"

"Not this time. Let Fuji and Eiji work it out first."

"However-"

"Momo and Ryoma are with them. It'll be fine. Do you still want to listen to my reasoning?"

"Are you sure? ...Um, okay... Oh, right."

"Third, well, you may not have noticed, but Echizen has both of them under control. I still have yet to research on Echizen, but from the looks of it, if anything were to happen, he'll find a solution."

"And if he doesn't?"

"Oishi, weren't you the one said to believe in your team?"

"I guess..."

"And I find it funny when you said "they just fell" when clearly, you started panicking when Eiji fell on Momo."

"That was instinct-"

"Anyway, fourth..."

** * ** * * * 8 * * * ** * *

For a long time in a while, Tezuka was able to sleep peacefully and also wake up at his desired time, 6:30am. For once, Tezuka was a little disappointed that he didn't see the dream this time. His curiosity had gotten worse and now, as he got ready for his jog, he continuously thought about the mysterious boy. Realizing this, he quietly shook his head and chided to himself for being distracted by such a trivial matter.

"Come on Kunimitsu, this isn't the time to get hung over things like that." He said to himself. Leaving the room with his glasses perched on his nose, he walked down the hall without noticing his cell phone beeping for a new message on his nightstand...

A/N: I deeply apologize for this update. It's been a year since I had last updated, and I was trying to finish the story over this summer, but a lot of things happened... Well, I can't use that as an excuse, can I? So here's chapter 6.

This won't go to waste, I WILL finish this. That part will be reassured. I can't guarantee how soon the next chapter will be up...yeah. lots of dialect this time. I can't seem to grasp the right amount of dialect versus the amount of 'action'... I always seem to have too much of either one...anyway, hope you enjoyed!


	7. When Life gives you lemons

_**Rotten Watermelon**_

_When life gives you lemons_

* * *

-Burger place-

"..."

"..."

"Do you guys really eat this much?"

"*munch* wh-what?"

"mmmmhmmmm." _Slurp_

"That's just gross." Fuji and Eiji said in unison. They looked at each other for a moment only to turn away in a split second.

"Eh, Senpai? Why'd you guys look away?" Echizen asked innocently.

"What are you talking about Echizen/Ochibi?" Now that their kouhai had noticed them avoiding each other, they weren't sure whether to just follow through and lookaway again or just continue staring at each other. They decided on the latter.

"Eiji..." "Fuji..." It was almost ironic (and funny) to find the two in complete synch after the couple days they evaded each other – to which Momo could not help but cover his chuckle by stuffing more burgers into his mouth.

"You go first, Fuji."

"No, you can go first Eiji. I know there's something you wanted to say to me."

"There is, but I think you do too."

"Eiji, just say it."

"Nope, not until you do."

Echizen could not help but sweat drop at his bickering senpais. "You two aren't lovebirds so stop acting like one." Now it was time for his senpais to sweat drop at his blunt comment. "Why don't you start Fuji senpai?"

"Saa Echizen, I really don't think this is something you and Momo should be listening to."

"Why does it matter?"

"Because this is something between us two, and has nothing to do with you two."

"It's not like you're going to do anything when you're alone."

_Hmm... He has a point._ "How would you know that?"

"Because you haven't done anything."

"..."

"Right? Senpai, we don't have all day."

Fuji was a little more than just a bit hesitant and Eiji was equally nervous when Fuji opened his mouth to speak.

"It's about the phone call, Eiji. I really don't know anything about it."  
It took a few moments for Eiji to realize what Fuji was talking about but when he did, he answered, "It's okay Fuji. To tell the truth, The only thing I remember now was just I was making up some story but I don't remember the story anymore. Like, my mind was literally blank the entire time...I might've not even been talking the entire time. I passed out right after the call, too."

"O-oh, okay...and what did you need to tell me?" It was just Echizen and Eiji who caught that slight stutter in Fuji's voice, and neither disregarded it. Both made eye contact and knew the other caught it.

"Well Fuji...Umm...I'm not sure if it's just me...but you know how we've been friends for a while, right?" Nod. "I just feel like...these days...you're not yourself anymore." Both having the best eyesight in the team definitely didn't miss the flinch either.

"What are you talking about Eiji? At least I don't feel any different." Fuji chuckled. The slight strain in his laugh didn't support his words. Yet, Eiji didn't press any further. Something told Fuji that that wasn't exactly what Eiji wanted to say for the past week. Momo, having finished his 241st burger (and his last one) decided to join the conversation.

"Yeah senpai, what're you talking about? He's still the same old sadis- I mean, smiling genius that we all know. Is the heat getting to you, eh?" Echizen sweat dropped once again.

"Mou! Momo doesn't get it! It's not like you would understand!" Eiji pouted. "But anyway Fuji, sorry I was ignoring you for the past couple days...I'm getting lonely again...can we be friends once more?" he asked. At the sudden change of his personality, Fuji opened his eyes but closed them and smiled back.

"Of course Eiji, I have to apologize too for not saying much either. Tezuka's not here to bother either..."

"Is that all you think about? Bothering Tezuka?"

"You have to admit you'd want to see his expression change every once in a while."

"Oh! Oh yeah, remember that time when we stole his glasses when he changed? He was so furious but he thought-"

"Hey Eiji senpai, that was you? He thought it was me and made me run thirty laps!"

"I know! It was so hilarious! Ahaha-" Except Eiji didn't get to finish laughing since he was chased out of the store with a raging Momo right at his heels. (At least both were smart enough to take their bags with them) Which left Fuji and Echizen. Neither were really known to start conversations so it just ended with an awkward silence. After a few minutes, Echizen finally got up from the table.

"I'll need to get home before my stupid dad gets angry at me."

Getting up, Fuji offered, "Do you want me to walk you home?"

"I'm not a baby, I'll be fine. Unless you really want to?"

"It'll be my pleasure." With that, the two set out from the burger place towards home.

** ** *** ****  
Tezuka, back in Germany, was feeling pretty refreshed for waking up earlier than usual. He was still, of course, confused about the dreams he'd been having about the boy, but this time he didn't have a dream - any dream, at all. He checked his phone when he came back yesterday and it was a message from Inui asking if he followed everything he wrote from his last text. He replied back saying he didn't make the juice like he told him to, but otherwise he is doing just fine so he probably won't need it.

Just as he was about to leave, his phone beeped again, a message from Inui:

_"That's not what I meant. In fact, (Although it pains me to say this) the Inui Juice is the least of my worries right now. I'm asking about what I wrote in the post script."_

P_ost script? What is he talking about?_ Tezuka questioned. He quickly went through his recent messages and indeed after his recipe and workout schedule, there was a short message inscribed. Tezuka's eyes opened wide and understood everything the moment he read it.  


* * *

  
a/n: well, school is starting this week! For me, anyway. I'm sure a lot of you are excited :p

Speadee: thank you for taking your time and pointing out many things in my story. Your first couple questions will be gradually answered as the story continues. I did at first consider throwing Momoshiro in, but if I did it wouldn't make that much sense in the story itself. This story is more of Eiji-Fuji-Tezuka centric, so if Momo were to be in it, you will most likely be more confused than you are now. About Fuji's phone call, that will also be answered later. I meant Oishi to be very sensitive character in this story or else it won't work out. He's a major side character that I need in order to show changes between other characters. Yeah, true, but if I recall correctly (which I may not), Kikumaru disliked being called by his last name since he has so many family members or something like that…  
I didn't think this part would catch your attention too much, but let's just say that Nanjirou's friend is training St. Rudolph at that moment.  
There was a little excerpt on that, and I too, would prefer it to be Kyushu, but it's too late to change it now. Otherwise I have to rewrite the entire story. Also, Tezuka went to Seiharu 1st Elementary (fine, same thing), and if I wasn't clear in the first two 'dreams' that Tezuka had (if I wasn't I'm really really sorry), Tezuka _had_ been there and the mysterious boy was the one who was moving into town.

Also, everyone has different perspectives on each character, and the characters that you listed to hate were intentionally created that way from the Author, Konomi Takeshi (which means he did well ;)) although, I personally like Kirihara because he's pretty funny.  
Thanks! I did try and keep them in character, but there may be times when you or other readers may feel as if they are ooc.

Naw, you didn't offend me, but I really appreciate your review.


End file.
